tt Idruniurro.

Conference of the Peace Society commenced its session at Manchester on Thursday, in the Corn F.iseleinge. Mr. George Wilson was in the chair ; supported by Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, Mr. J. B. Smith, Mr. Joseph Brotherton, Mr. George Hadfield, Mr. Joseph Sturge, Mr. Charles "Lindley, and other gentlemen. The audience ranged between four and five hundred. Mr. George Wilson took the lead in oratory ; dealing with the statistics of the Army and Navy, especially as regards the excess of officers. Mr George Hadfield commented on the war mania : there are, he said, 4,000,000 soldiers in Europe now; he pronounced it absurd to range bodies of armed men at Calais and Dover and expect that war would not break out. The Reverend William Aspinall, of Liverpool, and the Reverend G. W. Condor, of Leeds, took the religious ground of anta- gonism to war. The Reverend John Burnet, of London, denominated war and its causes, soldiers and their doings, "humbugging," "humbugs," and "humbuggery,"—using every possible inflection of this slang ex- pression. Mr. John Bright delivered an exceedingly reasonable speech in behalf of the Peace doctrine ; gathering his arguments in favour of arbi- tration from current instances—as duelling, which had so much changed- ntlr late disputes with the United States, and the Lobos affair, which must have come to arbitration, by virtue of a special treaty, had not the Presi- dent yielded to the rightful claims of Peru. Why could not we have a similar treaty with the United States, and with France ? After a speech from Mr. Brotherton, the meeting was adjourned until the evening.

The resolutions agreed to set forth, that it is the solemn duty of ministers of religion and journalists to diffuse pacific principles; and that as the sword can settle no question on principles of equity, recourse should be had to arbitration.

A great many letters were read ; the adhesions ooming not from men who can be said to belong to any particular party. Among them were Lord Goderich, Mr. George Combe, Lord Radnor, Mr. Leigh Hunt, and M. Emile de Girardin. The last letter has an interest of its own in the present state of French affairs ; but it would be more satisfactory as evidence were its writer not so completely committed. " Paris, Ian. 18.

" Sir—I have received the letter in which you inform me that a Con- ference of the friends of Peace will be held in Manchester on the 27th and 28th of January. I regret the more earnestly my inability to be present, because I think I should have expressed the unanimous opinion of industrial France in saying, that never has it better comprehended than now that the durable maintenance of peace will bo the inevitable reestablishment of liberty by the progress of civilization and the exchange of ideas; also that it does not at all understand the preparations and armaments of the English Government,—arrangements andpreparations that are without an aim, unless they have some other than the absurd supposition of a dieembarcation without object.

"Receive, Sir, and convey to the Conference, the new and constant ex-

pression of my fraternal sentiments. " Estr.ee PE GLICARDIN." In the course of the proceedinge, Mr. Stokes, the secretary, announced that " a large parcel " of Mr. Cobden's Peace and War pamphlet " would be offered at the doors, to members of the Conference, at the price of one For some time past Mr. Joseph Sturge has been oanying out an expe- riment for the reformation of juvenile criminals, mainly by giving them employment ; and a few weeks ago Lord Calthorpe and others met to consider the propriety of extending this plan. A committee was then ap- pointed to examine and report on the subject; and on Thursday a meet- ing was held at Birmingham to receive the report. Besides Lord Cal- thorpe, the chairman, there were present Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Adderley M.P,, Mr. Scholefield M.P., Captain Tindal, and Mr. Ellis, of the Reformatory Institution, Ryland Road. The success of that institution was recognized in the report. The annual cost of maintaining a master, a matron, and twenty boys, in a reformatory institution, was estimated at 3501. The committee announced that Mr. Adderley would build at Saltley, about a mile from Birmingham, at his own cost, a house, work- shops, and dormitories, for twenty boys, and attach to it five acres of land : they recommendrd that this offer should be accepted, and that Mr. John Ellis should be placed at the head of the establishment, the pecuniary management being confided to a committee. It was resolved, that in order to reclaim juvenile criminals, " it is desirable to provide for them a house, to afford them the benefits of education, and to train them to habits of regular industry"; and that a school, to be called the Binning- ham Reformatory School should be established. A committee, consisting of Lord Calthorpe, Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Recorder Hill, and others, was appointed to open the school as speedily as posssible.

At a Convocation held at Oxford on Thursday, the motion to grant 500/. out of the University cheat towards the Wellington subscription for educational purposes, was carried by only 25 to 22. The opposition was not so much to the grant as to the mode of applying it. It was sug- gested that the 5001, should form the nucleus of a general University sub- scription, for the purpose of founding scholarships at Oxford, to be held by boys from the Wellington School, instead of being given directly towards the founding of that establishment. [This opposition is actually attributed to the Liberals as a misdemeanour, by the Standard.]

The Bishop of Manchester presided over a meeting held on Wednesday in the Manchester Town-Council room, when it was resolved that a mo- nument should be erected to the memory of the late Dr. Dalton, the well- known chemist; and that, as a subsidiary memorial, Dalton scholarships of chemistry and mathematics should be founded in Owen's College.

Auricular confession, alleged to have been introduced by the Re- manizing clergy, has for some time excited the people of South Devon. On Friday last week, a large meeting was held at Exeter, and a memo- rial to the Queen adopted, praying that her Majesty would issue a Royal Commission of inquiry and exercise her authority to put an effectual stop to the Romanizing practices of the clergy. Sir John Yarde Buller and other leading county gentlemen were present.

Rebeocaites, or forcible removers of toll-gates, have appeared in Somer- setahiro, between Beth, From, and Warminster. A certain trust, known as the Black Dog Trust, has got into legal difficulties; the former treasurer having been a heavy defaulter. Unable to compel the parishes to re- pair the roads, the trust has continued to exact heavy tolls for roads un- fit to travel over. On Thursday week, a mob assembled and carried off the Midford gates.

A meeting of the Pembrokeshire Lieutenancy is announced for the 5th of next month, to arrange a ballot for the Militia ; voluntary enlistment i having failed, in consequence of the large amount of employment afforded by the construction of railways in the locality.

Croydon is suffering from an increased mortality arising from the pre- valence of a fever. Contrary to the usual course of such diseases, its ravages commenced among the gentry and substantial tradesmen of the town. Alarmed, the Local Board of Health applied to the London Board, and Dr. Southwood Smith and Dr. Sutherland have visited Croydon. They report that the fever does not appear to have arisen from any pecu- liar local causes, but from the extraordinary character of the weather— excessive wet and a high state of the temperature. The epidemic broke out at Oxted, a few miles from Croydon, before it appeared in the town ; and it has recently prevailed in many towns and villages in England. [The unusual character of the fever, and the rate of mortality, have been denied by a resident ; but the prevalent alarm is a fact.] The Sunbury Magistrates have fined Mr. Wayte, keeper of the Angel and Crown Hotel, Staines, 408. and costs, for selling beer in two bottles purport- ing to be the one a quart " and the other a " pint," though one was de- ficient 12 ounces 14 drachms and the other 6 ounces 7 drachms. The prose- cutor was an Inspector of Weights and Measures.

William Tyrrell, a Manchester man, has perpetrated a cowardly and wilful homicide. He quarrelled and fought with Quinn, a weaver; the quarrel con- tinued, and Tyrrell wished Quinn to strike him, that they might renew the fight; Quinn repeatedly said he would not, unless Tyrrell would "show both his hands." He would only show the left hand, keeping the other in his pocket ; until at length he drew it out, clasping a knife in it, with which he fatally stabbed Quinn. The Coroner's Jury pronounced the act a s' Wilful murder. •' On Tuesday evening last, as Mrs. Dufall, of Beverley, was returning from Hull to Beverley by the last train, she unfortunately was left alone in the carriage with a ruffian, who first robbed her and then threw her out of the carriage, near Cottingham. It appears that the carriage in which Duffill was returning home was nearly full of people when the train left Hull ; but, unfortunately for her, they all got out at Cottingham, except the villain who committed the above atrocious set. It is supposed that, soon after the train had left Cottingham, the wretch had robbed her, and, in order more effectually to get away as soon as he had done so, threw her out of the carriage, as the train was on its way to Beverley. Her cries of " thie,f" and " murder " were ultimately heard; but when assistance arrived she Wes insensible, and has been so ever since, and is now in a very precarious state. Holliday, a cow-dealer, has been arrested on suspicion. Joseph Lamb, bead clerk in the goods department of the Northampton station of the North-western Railway, has absconded, having robbed the company of more than 10001.

The Reverend Edward Jelin Chaplin, a resident Fellow of Magdalen Col- lege, Oxford, has been found dead on his bed, from apoplexy. He bad twp Ste before; and a surgeon declared that if the fit recurred when medical aid was not at hand immediately, be would inevitably lose his life. The prophecy was completely fulfilled ; as the unfortunate gentleman was seized during the night when quite alone, and had been dead hours before his bed-nutker entered in the morning. Another victim has been added to those killed by the railway collision near Oxford : John Willliams, a hawker, whose arm was amputated, died in Rad- cliffe Infirmary on Monday last. Thus eight have perished by this one "ac- cident."

Another life-boat catastrophe is recorded. On Saturday night the Rhyl life-boat went out to the assistance of a vessel wrecked on the Hoyle Bank. The ship was abandoned by the crew before the boat reached her. As the Rhyl men were returning, the life-boat capsized, and all the people were thrown into the water; three got to shore alive, but six were lost. The boat is a new one, sent to Rhyl by the Royal Benevolent Shipwrecked Ma- riners' Society.

On the afternoon of Friday last week there was a serious accident on the branch railway between Wakefield and Askem, part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. This branch is used by the Great Northern Company. The accident occurred to one of their trains. The train, which consisted of an engine and tender, a horse-box, and guard's van, eight or nine passenger- carriages, and then another guard's van, had arrived within about a mile of Womersley station, twelve miles from Doncaster, when the engine-driver and fireman felt one of the leading wheels of the enginejolting very much, and, suspecting the real cause, they at once endeavoured to stop the train. As, however, it was then running at a speed of something like fifty miles an hour, this could not be very speedily accomplished. They reversed the engine and signalled to the guard to put on the break, and were in hopes that they could pull up without any serious consequences. The train had ran about 600 yards in this way when suddenly the engine jumped off the line on the side where the embankment was at least twenty feet high, with a deep cutting full of water immediately beyond. The dnver and stoker, who were prepared for this, but stuck to their posts to the last moment,

sprang off the engine on the other aide ; but, unfortunately, both suffered—

Johnson the driver having his leg broken, and Oliver the fireman his foot -crushed. The ponderous engine and tender, the horse-box, and first guard's van, immediately reeled over down the embankment with a tremendous crash. Luckily, from the velocity of the train having been reduced, the coupling-chains of the passenger-train gave way, leaving all the remaining vehicles on the line. Some of the passengers were hurt, but not dangerously. The guard, who was in the van, escaped almost unscathed. The accident was caused by the breaking of the tire of one of the leading wheels of the engine.

A locomotive exploded on Sunday at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The driver and fireman were standing on the foot-board at the time, and escaped with

slight scalds; but another fireman, who was standing on the foot-step, was so badly hurt that he is not expected to recover. The engine was attached to a train, and was just about to start.

A boiler-explosion at Messrs. Marling and Co.'s woollen-cloth-factory at Ebley, near Stroud, has caused the death of an engineer, and seriously hurt two women. There were four boilers employed ; it was necessary to make some little alteration in one ; the steam from all the boilers passed through the same pipe. When one was not in use a " stop-valve " was turned in the common pipe, to out off the connexion between the boilers. This was done while the present job was in hand. When the boiler was refilled and the fire lighted, Liddiard, the engine-man, forgot to open the stop-valve. The consequence was a great pressure of Amin, which rushed through the safety-valve. The steam-gauge, however, did notexhibit any extraordinary pressure. Liddiard, not thinking of the stop-valve, got on the boiler, moved the safety-valve up and down, and perhaps held it down for a time. In a few minutes the boiler burst ; a portion of the building above the boiler- house—five stories high—was forced down, and two women who were in the top floor were hurt. Some hours elapsed before the mangled body of Lid- diard could be got out of the mound of rubbish. It was stated at the in- quest that Liddiard had been many years employed at the factory, and was usually a careful man : evidently, his forgetfulness that the stop-valve was closed led to the disaster. An engineer stated that suddenly closing and opening the safety-valve repeatedly would cause a very.dangerous state of things in the boiler, by the sudden changes in the condition of the steam. The boiler did not appear to have been defective. The verdict was "Acci- dental death."

Seven miners have been killed at New Cottam coal-pit, seven miles from Sheffield. They had got into a corf to descend the shaft, but had not been lowered more than twenty feet when an iron ring to which the corf was suspended gave way, and the poor men were dashed to the bottom—a depth of 240 feet. Some delay occurred before any oue could descend the shaft ; only one of the seven miners exhibited the least sign of life, and he only for a few momenta.

A boy has been found dead at Sheffield under very singular circumstances. He kept pigeons in a garret; a cat entered through a broken pane and stole some of the birds ; the boy prepared a noose to suspend before the hole to catch the cat. One day he was missed, and after some time the garret was searched : his lifeless body was partly resting on the floor, and the neck was in a sling formed of whip-cord which was attached to a nail in a joist. It appeared most probable that he had been standing on some article of furni- ture to adjust the trap for the cat, that he fell over, and his head slipped through the sling in the whip-cord, the jerk depriving him of sensation ; another conjecture is that he was trying what hanging was like, and some accident occurred during the dangerous experiment. This last supposition finds favour in Sheffield, from a man in the lunatic ward of the workhouse having hanged himself after an animated conversation with the other pa- tients on the recent executions in York of the two Sheffield murderers.

Five hundred brickmakers of Manchester went by railway, on Thursday sennight, to Ashton-under-Lyne, with the view of intimidating some " non- society " men. The Mayor met them at the railway station, and warned them not to break the law ; and when they subsequently held a meeting in the theatre he again gave them good advice. Troops were stationed in the Town-hall ready for service. But the brickmakers did not proceed to any overt acts of violence, though their presence frightened away two men out of twelve who were working in a brick-yard.